


The Life and Times of Commander Shepard

by Jane Shepard (Mehmi)



Series: Mass Effect [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Colonist (Mass Effect), Gen, War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 06:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2181300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mehmi/pseuds/Jane%20Shepard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ongoing series depicting Commander Shepard's life before the events of Mass Effect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

My good friend Liara T'Soni somehow convinced me to let her write a biography about my life, as a means to alleviate my boredom while recuperating. Don't ask me how she did it; just know it involved a lot of brandy. Needless to say, she asked me to tell her everything. So I've started this at the beginning, though I'm sure you'll probably want to skip straight to the exciting parts like taking down the rogue Spectre, Saren, or my involvement in the Reaper War. Just give an old war hero her due and hear me out, okay?

 

* * *

 

Alright, so from the top. My name is Jane Elizabeth Shepard, and I was born on Earth, Sol System. Like many biotics, I was first exposed to element zero in the womb, a few months before my birth. My parents were greatly relieved to discover I was normal, unlike many of the other children born after Eezo exposure. No cancer, just a happy bouncing baby girl.

When the Mindoir colony was established a few months after my birth, my parents were on the first ship of colonists. The Alliance promised support and resources for any family willing to uproot themselves and settle down on another planet.

Life on Mindoir was peaceful, like an old English county in those classic vids. My father, along with many of the other colonists, was an agriculturalist, otherwise known as a farmer. He helped to develop the farmland around the colony. He seemed to know a lot more about farming than the others; "It's in our blood," he would tell me when I asked. My mother was an engineer, she oversaw the equipment used to cultivate the land.

When I was fourteen, a small cargo ship crashed on the outskirts of the colony. The Systems Alliance sent in investigators who declared the area unsafe, and the soldiers posted to our colony concealed it behind barricades, away from prying eyes. Of course, that only served to encourage me and the curious teens I hung out with. We organised to sneak out one night and check out the crash site.

 

* * *

 

I looked at my clock; 11pm. My parents would be in bed already. I threw on a jacket and snuck out my bedroom window. The ladder was still where I had left it, and I climbed down to the ground with ease. The four of us had decided to meet up behind the sheds housing the farming machinery on the outskirts of the colony, so I headed there, tramping across the wet grass as quietly as I could.

Tom and Cady were already there, rubbing their hands together in an effort to keep warm. Cady smiled at me as I approached. She was the same age as me, while Tom was a year and a half older.

"Janey, where have you been?" Tom asked with a frown. "We've been waiting since 10."

"Dad and ma took forever to go to sleep," I replied, looking around for Cady's older brother. "Where's Jo?"

"That wimp chickened out, told Cady he had homework. Worst excuse ever. C'mon, let's go."

Cady and I followed a little behind Tom to the crash site. "He's not a wimp," she whispered to me. "He really wants to join the Alliance when he's old enough, so he's been studying real hard so he'll be ready."

"I know, Cady," I replied, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. "Tom's just grumpy because without Jo he's the only boy. He's afraid we'll strap him down and force him to wear makeup." Cady giggled. Out of the two of us she was the prettier one, with long blonde hair plaited into twin braids, green eyes and a smattering of freckles. She was always wearing skirts and dresses, whereas I opted for more convenient cargo pants and shirts unless forced to wear dresses by Cady or my mother. My black hair was just long enough to tie into a ponytail.

When we arrived at the crash site, Tom climbed over the barricade. I gave Cady a boost up, and Tom caught her on the other side. Then I went over. After that, we made our way through the shadows to the entrance of the crashed ship. The cargo bay doors were open; we clambered inside.

The ship was a complete wreck. Cargo crates lay strewn about, left untouched until the authorities could handle them appropriately. We spread out, searching for anything cool to investigate. Tom wanted to see if the engines were still intact. Cady just followed me as I looked for any clues as to the ship's intended destination.

We were looking around for maybe fifteen minutes when we heard a loud clattering sound from the area near the engine. I rushed through the ship, frantically looking for Tom. He was sprawled on the floor of the engine room, and a large panel had fallen on top of him.

"Cady, help me pull him out!" I cried as I struggled to lift up the panel. Cady grabbed Tom's hands and pulled with all her might. Tom wriggled out quickly, and I dropped the panel back into place. As I bent over to catch my breath, Tom stepped forward to stare at the engine parts that had been revealed when the panel fell.

"Wow, look at this tech, Janey!" He gasped. I looked up at the engine. It was like nothing any of us had seen before.

"I don't think this was just a cargo ship," I murmured. Tom began to rummage through the exposed wiring. "Tom, I don't think you should-"

Suddenly there was a loud explosion. A billow of dust spewed out from the engine, filling the room in seconds. Cady ran from the room, but Tom just stood, transfixed by something in his hands. I gripped his shirt by the back and tried to drag him from the room, holding my breath all the while. Tom was stubborn though, he struggled against me, trying to get back to the engine.

"Move, damn it!" I shouted, giving one final pull. He tumbled out of the room, a little shocked at my reaction. My lungs burned, I had to breathe again. I inhaled a large breath, tasting the acrid dust as it burned down my throat. I tried to cough the dust back up, but it only worsened the pain. I stumbled away from the engine with tears streaming down my cheeks. My blood felt like it was on fire as it coursed through my body.

Cady and Tom threw my arms over their shoulders and helped me through the cargo hold and outside. There, we were met by an Alliance patrol who had heard the commotion.

"What the hell are you kids doing here?" One of the soldiers demanded.

"Please officer," Cady begged, "Janey's hurt. You have to help her!"

My head was spinning, and I could feel my blood fizzing through my veins, burning hotter with every second. There was a roar growing louder and louder in my ears until finally my eyes rolled back and I blacked out.

 

* * *

 

"-She's just a kid, Hannah. What do you want me to do?"

Someone was arguing about me. I slowly cracked an eye open, and saw that I was tucked into a bed that wasn't mine. My parents were over in a corner of the dimly lit room, quietly... discussing me.

"I don't know, set some boundaries! She shouldn't be hanging around with boys like Tom who constantly get her into trouble. What if she dies next time? Hm?"

"It wasn't Tom's fault," I grumbled, trying to get up. Ma rushed over to help me.

"What in the world were you thinking Jane?" She cried as she rearranged my pillows so I could sit. "You could have been killed!"

"It's fine ma, I'm okay." I told her. "We just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

"You are _not_ okay young lady. You put yourself and your friends in serious danger, don't you understand?"

Dad put his hand on her shoulder. Ma glared at him, then stalked from the room, muttering something under her breath. Dad sat on the edge of the bed.

"You gave your mother a scare," he commented, brushing a lock of my hair to the side and tucking it behind my ear. "You passed out when the soldiers found you, Tom, and Cady. Do you remember?"

I nodded.

"That was the day before yesterday. The doctor has been running some tests, and believes that you were exposed to Eezo dust."

"I had to get Tom out before the engine gave out," I told him. "A panel fell on him, it was an accident! Are- are they okay?"

"They're fine." His smile was encouraging. "Cady said she will visit after school."

I frowned. They were at school, not sick like I was? I didn't understand.

Dad read my thoughts exactly, and continued to explain. "You were accidentally exposed to Element Zero in-utero: when your mother was pregnant with you. We were relieved when the doctors said you were fine, because there are rumours that in-utero Eezo exposure can lead to cancer and other complications. The doctor thinks this has made you more sensitive to Eezo exposure than others."

"Oh."

"They want to keep you here for a few days, to make sure you're okay."

"Ma is really mad, isn't she?" I asked softly.

"You know what your mother is like," dad replied.

"I guess I'm grounded..."

"Oh yeah you are, honey. Big time."

I was fine, at least according to the doctor. No cancer or lesions developed as a result of my exposure, and after two more days at the medical centre I was sent home. My mother grounded me for a month for sneaking out to the ship. I took my punishment in stride, knowing it could have been worse.

Over the next two years I found myself zapping metal I touched with static electricity more often than before. I didn't realise what this could mean, so I never told anyone. I just dismissed it as the weather, or my clothes, or something else.

Cady's brother Jo and I grew closer as we got older. He asked me out on the eve of Earth's New Year, 2169, telling me it was something their family used to celebrate when they lived on Earth. He took me out to a hill overlooking the colony and the surrounding forest. We stayed there until late, gazing at the stars and talking about our dreams. Jo had big plans: he wanted to command his own ship in the Alliance Navy. I had no idea what I wanted, I only knew I wanted to get off Mindoir, to see what was out there. At midnight he kissed me, and told me we could do it together.

After that, Jo and I became an item, much to his sister's pleasure, and Tom's dislike. He wasn't jealous of Jo, rather of me for 'monopolising all of Jo's free time', as he once put it. I told him he sounded like had a crush on Jo, and he tried to punch me. I earned myself a black eye in the resulting brawl, but I still managed to bring Tom down. I wasn't about to let him start winning after all this time.


	2. Mindoir Attacked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commander Shepard retells how she escaped the slavers who attacked Mindoir in 2170

It wasn't long after our fight that everything changed for the colonists of Mindoir. It was a summer afternoon, and the sun was blazing down as hot as ever. After classes were finished, I met Jo in the park near the school. He was sitting under a tree, reading a datapad.

"What's news?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

He tucked the datapad away and replied, "Just a letter from my father. He's away on a mission again."

"Yeah, Cady told me that. How'd your meeting with the Alliance go?"

He looked at me and smiled. "Good, I think. It helps having a father in the brass. I'll know by the weekend if they'll accept me."

It was good news, Jo wanted to be an Alliance officer. But my heart still hurt when I thought of him leaving me behind on Mindoir, even if it was just for a little while. He noticed my pout, and was leaning in to kiss me when an explosion rocked the ground below us. We both turned to stare at the cause: ships were suddenly descending down from the sky, firing blasts upon the colony as they went. Where they had come from no one knew.

Men and women around the park began crying out and running to the nearby buildings. We scrambled to our feet. Jo grabbed my arms and looked into my eyes. "Listen, I want you to go and find my sisters and mother, and take them to your farm. The underground storage is the most defensible position in the colony. Anyone else you find, take them too, got it?"

"What about you, where are you going?" I asked, refusing to let go of him.

"I need to go, offer my assistance! The Alliance only has a token garrison placed here, they'll need all the help they can get. Those ships look like batarian slavers, I won't let them take my home. Please, go! Find my family and get them safe."

He planted a kiss on my lips, then pushed me in the opposite direction of the attacks. Nothing I could say would change his mind, so I ran toward the housing estates his family lived in, just a few blocks from where we had met in the park. As I got closer, a shuttle descended on the estate, spewing forth batarian raiders. I hid myself in an alcove and watched as the raiders spread out amongst the houses, taking women and children captive and killing anyone who resisted.

One of the raiders must have spotted me; he approached my hideout, weapon drawn. "Come out, little girl," he grunted. "I know you're in here."

I waited until he stepped into the shadows of the alcove, before leaping onto the batarian and wrapping my arm around his throat, grateful that I'd learned how to defend myself. I held fast as he struggled, until the raider slowly collapsed to the ground. I picked up his pistol, looked away and fired at his chest. The batarian's blood sprayed onto my hand; I tried to wipe the blood off on my pant leg without much luck.

I crouched in the alcove and waited for the raiders to disperse further. At the first chance I got, I sprinted for Jo and Cady's house. Inside, I was confronted by the disturbing image of blood splattered across the walls. I searched frantically for Cady and her mother and sisters; following a trail of blood, I found the two of them upstairs, their bodies huddled together in Cady's bedroom, a gun in her mother's hand. Cady's two younger sisters were gone. Tears fell from my eyes as I checked for signs of life, but I was too late. I fought the urge to throw up, and left the house. I had to find my parents.

I headed out towards the farms. With any luck my parents would still be at the labs, working. But on my way, I noticed smoke coming from the horizon in the direction of the farms. My heart clenched tight as I began to run.

The machinery sheds were on fire. I ignored them and raced to the office building. I opened the locked door with my access code and went inside. The lights had been cut, and it was deadly silent. I quietly moved through the rooms, using my omnitool as a torch, searching for anyone still alive.

I found my dad in his office chair, gasping for breath. I rushed to his side. He was grasping his hands against his gut, and blood was trickling through his fingers. Holding back my tears I told him, "I'm here daddy, I can help you. Let me go get medigel from the lab-"

"No! Don't go in there, Jane." His voice was weak, but determined. "I don't want you to see her like that."

Tears were welling in my eyes; I couldn't hold them much longer. "But you'll die if I don't!" I cried.

"Medigel won't help me now, kiddo. Let me hold you one more time."

I started to sob as I leaned down and wrapped my arms around him. "Sh, now," he whispered, his voice shallow as he tried to comfort me. "It's alright. It's al..." His voice trailed off. He was gone.

I had to keep thinking, or my emotions were going to take over, leaving me a blubbery mess. If any raiders found me like that I wouldn't stand a chance. Clipping my stolen pistol to my belt, I hacked the lock on my dad's gun cabinet with my omnitool and took his shotgun. Then I headed back to the reception.

On the way I passed the lab. The door was open; I snuck a peek inside and froze. My mother's body was sprawled across a workbench, contorted into a position that shouldn't be possible. Her lab clothes were torn and blood smeared parts of her that I didn't want to know about. The sight made my stomach heave; I ran into the lunch room next door, making it to the sink just in time to vomit up everything I had eaten earlier that day.

 When my body became suitably numb, I shut the lab door, and headed to the reception. I didn't want anyone to see my mother like that. I used my omnitool to hack the entrance door closed, and holed up behind a couch to wait out any raiders, too afraid to leave in case they were waiting outside.

 

* * *

 

I've been told that I was waiting in the dark for two days before I was discovered, but I couldn't tell with the lighting gone. I managed to find my ma's sweets stash, but by the time I heard any signs of life outside the reception, I was too tired and hungry to distinguish between raiders and help.

"Hey, over here," a muffled voice called from outside the hacked entrance. "More signs of fighting."

I scrambled to my feet and aimed the shotgun with shaking hands. The door was being overridden; it screeched loudly as its halves were heaved open. Sunlight filtered into the room, blinding my eyes. I tried to steady my hands, but I couldn't.

"That's close enough!" I shouted as someone moved through the doorway. I couldn't see their face, only their dark silhouette against the light. They held up an empty hand, the other lowering a gun.

"Whoa, calm down." More shadows appeared behind him. "Miss, we're with the Alliance. I need you to put your gun down."

"What if you're lying?" I asked. It didn't make sense, but nothing was just then.

The man took a step closer. One of the shadows behind him pressed their hand to their head. "Patrol to Alpha, come in," she seemed to be waiting for a response. "Sir, we have a situation out on one of the farmsteads." She paused. "An armed civilian, can't be older than sixteen. How should we handle this?" Another pause. "Understood, sir. Patrol out."

The first man took another step toward me. I backed up, feeling a low table at the back of my legs. "I'm Corporal Peters," he told me. "If you lower your weapon, I'll take you to my superiors."

For a brief moment I hesitated, and in that instant the corporal leaped forward, yanked the shotgun from my hands and passed it to his comrade. I panicked. I was reaching for the pistol clipped to my belt when the corporal grabbed a hold of my wrists. I sat heavily on the table as the other soldier stepped into the room. She bound my hands together with omnicuffs and disarmed me of my pistol. When that was done she asked, "What's your name, kid?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. My eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the light; I could now clearly see their armour. They were indeed Alliance military. "Jane Shepard," I mumbled, my voice hoarse and cracking.

"Alright, Jane. I'm Gunnery Chief Mika Lewis. We're going to take you back to our commanding officer now, okay?"

I nodded, and they led me outside into the blinding sunshine. It was the last time I would see that place.

 

* * *

 

The Alliance garrison was struggling to take the colony back from the raiders. The had set up an outpost near the town centre, but as we arrived it became obvious that they were pinned down by the batarians and being overrun. Gunnery Chief Lewis signalled a halt before we entered the open space.

She pressed on her communicator as she looked over the city centre. "Patrol to Alpha, come in. What's our situation, sir?" She asked quietly. The reply took a moment. "Sir, communications are breaking up. Do you want us to approach?" There was more silence. Eventually she said, "Aye aye, sir. You draw their fire, and we'll flank them from behind. Give us a couple minutes to get ready, then start your attack. Lewis out."

When she was done, Lewis looked over at me like she was deciding on something. I glared back at her. "I'm faced with two options here, Jane." She informed me. "I can't spare anyone to watch you while we help re-secure command. Either I leave you here alone, or I put my trust in you to do the right thing when I release you. What's it going to be?"

My doubts from earlier were gone. These guys were Alliance, and they were trying to rescue me. I stopped frowning and held I out my hands so Lewis could remove the omnicuffs.

"Good choice, Jane." She told me, pulling out my pistol and handing it to me. I made sure the thermal chamber was good to go.

"Alright. Peters, you and Tan keep to the left. Jane and I will stick right. There's ten raiders hiding in cover south from the command outpost. Alpha will be distracting them so we can move in quietly and take them down. Any questions?" When no one said anything, she nodded. "The major wants radio silence, so stay within eyesight. Let's move out."

We headed out to face the batarian raiders. Two of them were huddled behind a short wall, facing away from us. Someone from the outpost threw a grenade, signalling the start of the attack. The others stormed in, and I followed a little distance behind. Peters had already downed one of the raiders by the time I got up close to them, and he and Tan were working on five more. The remaining four swarmed over Lewis, hoping to limit the soldier's attack by getting in close. I fired my weapon at one of the raiders, hitting him in the shoulder. Another grenade exploded in the midst of the fight.

One of the slavers spotted me, and charged towards me. I tried to aim my pistol at him and shoot but by then my hands were shaking so bad I missed. He grabbed the pistol in my hands and yanked it from my grip. I punched him in the stomach, hard.

The batarian roared in pain, wrapping his hands around my throat and lifting me off my feet. I struggled against him, trying hard to breathe. My heart was pounding, and I could feel my blood fizzing through my body. It was strange, as if a power was gathering in my hands. When I thought I couldn't hold on to it any longer, I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed my hands into the batarian's chest as hard as I could, releasing the power as I did so. His grip on my throat slipped away as he stumbled backwards. A final shot rang out; blood spurted from the batarian's chest and he crumpled to the ground.

I bent over and began to cough, gasping in gulps of air. Lewis holstered her rifle and came to check up on me.

"Sorry about that," she commented. "That one slipped by me. You going to be alright?"

I held up my hand, touching my thumb to my forefinger to signal okay. It was a lie of course. Nothing was okay, my parents were dead and I had almost been strangled by some four eyed alien. But I couldn't think of that right now, if I did I would fall apart. "Where to?" I asked hoarsely.

Lewis led me to the command post. Half a dozen Alliance troops were milling about, organising supplies, or checking their equipment. A medic came over and checked out our wounds; Tan had taken a bullet in the leg, and Peters had burns on his arm from the grenade blast. When they had been tended to, Lewis pointed the medic over to me. The medic sat me down on a crate and gently tilted my head to the side. I brushed my tangled hair out of the way so he could see my neck. Then he tilted my head in the other direction.

"Have you had any trouble breathing?" He asked. I shook my head. A quick scan of my vitals, and he told me the prognosis. "Nothing is broken, but your cuts and bruises will take a few days to heal." Then he left to help out the others. Supplies were dwindling; they had to ration everything. That meant no medigel wasted on non life-threatening problems.

While the medic had been looking me over, the patrol's commanding officer had approached Lewis. His tanned skin was leathery from too much time in the sun, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a week. His salt and pepper hair was thick and wiry. When he spoke, it was with a gruff, no-nonsense tone. "This the civilian?" He asked Lewis.

"Yes, sir. She says her name is Jane Shepard."

He came over to me. "You a biotic, Shepard?" He demanded, looking me over. He didn't seem to like using long sentences.

"A biotic?" I repeated quietly. I'd heard that term before, while listening to my parents argue late at night.

"The way you threw that batarian looked like biotics. No matter. Major Baines, I'm in charge here. You may be a civi but around here my every word is law, you got that?"

I nodded my head, awed at the length of his last sentence. With a nod, Major Baines left.

"Huh," Lewis murmured as she sat next to me. "I was sure he would tear me a new one for letting you out of the cuffs. Anyway, how are you holding up?"

"I've been better," I murmured. "Are there any other survivors?"

She shook her head sadly. "Sorry kiddo, we just don't know. Communications are down; you're the only civilian we've seen in days. The slavers hit this colony hard."

"There was almost a thousand people living here, they're all gone?" It just didn't seem possible.

"And you beat the odds. The universe must have a plan for you. The Alliance has a carrier inbound to rescue us, they'll arrive in a couple hours. Until then we just need to sit tight. I have some spare food rations, you hungry?"

My stomach answered for me with a rumble as loud as thunder. My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Except for my foray into ma's 'secret' stash of sweets, I hadn't eaten in over a day.

Lewis brought over a box and dug around for something half decent. She handed me a bar  stamped "protein". I unwrapped it and took a bite. It wasn't particularly appetising, but it did the job. Next she passed me a canteen filled with water.

Once my hunger was sated, I leaned my head back against the crate behind me, wondering what would happen to me. My parents were gone, and my friends too. I had nowhere to go. Suddenly I remembered Jo, so eager to defend us. Was he dead too? Was his body lying in a ditch somewhere, battered and broken by the raiders?

I didn't notice the tears streaking down my face until Lewis put her arm around me. I couldn't hold it back anymore; I began to cry, leaning into her embrace. Her shoulder-guard was cold against my forehead. She didn't say anything, she just smoothed my matted hair back as I let it all out. After a long while my sobs stopped, and I just stared at my hands in my lap. Lewis scrounged around her armour for something, before passing me a cloth to wipe my face.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked her after I blew my nose. "Shouldn't you be helping to guard the outpost, not babysitting the civilian?"

"I have a younger sister," she told me. "We lost our parents when she was about your age. You remind me of her, so I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Oh." I mumbled, embarrassed by my outburst.

"It's fine."

We sat in silence until backup arrived at the colony. When the Alliance ships descended into the atmosphere, the marines at the outpost began to cheer. Shuttles came down and dropped off soldiers to clear out the slavers. Those of us from the outpost were ushered onto one of the shuttles and flown out to the waiting carrier, the SSV Einstein.

 

* * *

 

Once on board the Einstein, I was taken straight to the medbay, along with the others who had been injured down on Mindoir. My cuts and bruises were attended to by a medical assistant, who applied a small amount of medigel to kickstart the healing process. After the assistant was satisfied that I was beginning to heal, she moved on to the next patient. Lewis came into the medbay and approached my stretcher.

"Hey Doc, are you done with the kid?" She called out. When the doctor looked up from his patient and waved his hand, Lewis turned back to me. "C'mon, let's get you a real meal and a shower."

I slid off the stretcher and followed her to the mess hall. There must have been a hundred people seated around the hall eating dinner. Lewis grabbed a tray for each of us, piled them high with steaming hot food, and directed me to a nearby table. At first I hesitated to eat, my stomach feeling queasy. But after my first mouthful I realised just how hungry I was and quickly polished off my meal.

Next Lewis took me to the women's restroom. "Take as long as you want," she said to me as she pointed out the shower cubicles, "There's soap dispensers in each cubicle. I'm going to grab us some fresh fatigues from the quartermaster. I shouldn't be long."

I nervously headed over to a cubicle, stripping off my ripped and blood spattered clothes. I made the water as hot as I could bear and stepped under the stream. Using the dispensers next to the tap I soaped up my hair and body, then let the water rinse the suds away. As the water at my feet turned clear once more, I stared at my hands, thinking about my family and friends. I held back my sobs for as long as I could while my tears mingled with the water pouring down my face, but eventually my lips betrayed me.

"Jane, are you alright?" Lewis asked from the cubicle next to mine. I didn't answer. The water in her cubicle stopped; I watched her feet leave her shower and disappear from my view. After a few moments they reappeared just outside my door. "Open the door, Jane." She demanded quietly.

I turned off the shower and meekly unlocked my cubicle. Lewis was holding out a towel. She wrapped me in it, then drew me in close and hugged me tightly. I lost it, crying against her fresh uniform like a child who had hurt herself. Lewis just silently held me, like my mother had so many times before. When my tears were all cried out I sniffed, and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled through swollen lips, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Don't be," Lewis replied. "You just lost your whole world, I get it. Here, get dressed in these." She picked up a pile of clothes from a nearby bench. "You look to be about a small, but they might be a little loose on you. There's boots as well, below the bench. Tell me if they don't fit."

Clean underwear, singlet, shirt and fatigues. I threw them on, and pulled on the socks and boots. The shirt and fatigues were a little big, but everything else was fine. A belt on the fatigues stopped them from falling down my hips.

From there Lewis showed me to a set of bunks in the women's sleeping quarters. A good night's rest was in order for both of us. Lewis took the top bunk, I settled into the lower.

"Lewis, what's going to happen to me?" I asked quietly once I was comfortable.

"Do you have any living relatives? Grandparents?"

"No," I whispered. My mother had been an only child; her parents had passed away before I was born. My father's sister and their father had died in the First Contact War, and his mother had taken her own life afterwards. I was alone.

"Well, there are programs in place to help colonists who have been displaced by raiders. I'm sure they'll figure something out for you. Now get some sleep, we'll be at Arcturus Station soon enough."

 

* * *

 

Once the slavers were successfully driven from Mindoir, the SSV Einstein headed back through the Mass relays to Arcturus Station, headquarters of the Systems Alliance. At Central Command I was asked to recount what had happened, though I wasn't sure how useful my account would be. Gunnery Chief Lewis disappeared for a few hours to be debriefed. I was handed around so many offices and spoken to by so many clerks that I was well and truly lost, and didn't expect to see her again, but after a while she found me. She told me she'd received some time off, and wanted to make sure my case was being handled. By then, it was time for me to see the social worker.

We were taken in to a cramped office furnished with hard seats. The social worker sat us down at the desk, and flicked through information at his terminal.

"Miss Jane Elizabeth Shepard, born on the eleventh of April, 2154, to Hannah and Gregory Shepard, correct?"

I nodded my head.

"No living relatives. Hmm. Moved with parents to the Mindoir colony mid 2154, when of age attended regular schooling. Good grades, but an incident report states you broke into an Alliance designated quarantine zone with two others. Hmm.

"Well, this seems to be a fairly simple case. She'll be booked on the next ship to Earth, and placed in a community home until a suitable home is found, or she turns eighteen. That's our policy with unusual matters like these."

"What?" Lewis cried out vehemently. "A community home? Look at her! If you send her to a community home she'll be forced into a gang before you can blink. Surely you have foster homes, or something?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but placing children in foster homes takes time. She will have to stay in a community home until an appropriate family can be found for her. Unfortunately, unruly teenagers are a lot harder to accommodate than young children."

Lewis was quiet for a long time. I looked at her, wondering what she was thinking. Eventually her eyes squinted with determination.

"What if I adopt her?" She asked quietly.

"Excuse me?" The social worker replied.

I stared at Lewis as she repeated, "Let me adopt her. Jane can live with me and my sister here on Arcturus Station, and she can attend the local high school."

"But I-I, that's not... You're a marine, you spend too much time away. You could not possibly give her the attention she needs."

Lewis stood up, pressed her hands firmly on the desk and leaned forward. "When I'm away, she will have my sister. It's a far better solution than any community home. Now, either find the proper adoption forms for me to fill out, or find someone else to get them. Understood?"

The social worker scurried out, mumbling something under his breath. I continued to stare at Lewis, until she noticed my gaze.  "What is it?" She asked.

"You... Why would you do this for me?" I was confused. I didn't understand why she would go to all this trouble on my behalf.

"I told you before, you remind me of my sister. Trish and I are fairly well-off now, because someone looked out for us when we were younger. I'm simply returning the favour. So to speak. Besides, I saw your potential back on Mindoir. With a bit of training, you would make a fine soldier."

"I-I don't know how I could ever repay you," I stammered quietly.

"Don't call me mum, and we're even," she grinned momentarily. On a more serious note she added, "If you go to school, and get good grades, that'll be enough for me." She tousled my hair.

The social worker came back in, carrying a datapad. He and Lewis discussed the adoption at length for another half an hour, before she was allowed to add her biometric signature to the document. Then, she led me out of the building, and to the nearby transit hub. I was silent all the while, still a little shocked by what was happening. In less than a week, I had lost my family and my friends, watched my home get destroyed, and now I suddenly had a new family, a new place to live. It was all a bit much for me to take in.

Mika lived in a large apartment complex, on the fifth floor. I hesitated when she led me to the door of her apartment, which was decorated with holographic plants hanging down the sides. "My sister Patricia can be a little... eccentric," Lewis told me. "But you'll be alright with her."  With that said, she held out her hand and opened the door.

As the door closed behind us, Lewis called out, "Trish! We're home!"

"Mika? Welcome back!" A tall woman stepped into the room, drying her hands on a towel. Throwing the towel onto a nearby table she embraced her sister. "I was so relieved to hear you made it off Mindoir safe, the reports we were getting were frightening! You weren't hurt were you? Is there anything I can do?"

Lewis untangled herself from her sister's embrace. "I'm fine Trish. Really," she replied. "Listen, do we still have that spare room set up?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, because Jane here is going to be staying with us for a while." She stepped aside so that her sister could see me. A look was shared between the two sisters, one that clearly said they'd be discussing me later, out of my earshot. "Nice to meet you, Jane," Patricia said to me, forcing a smile.

Lewis directed me to a room upstairs and to the left. "This is your room now, so feel free to decorate it however you like," she told me. "Tomorrow I'll take you to the school, and the shopping district to get you new clothes, and school supplies as well."

"A-are you sure this is okay, Lewis?" I asked quietly, still feeling in shock. I looked around at the room.

"One hundred percent," she replied. "And you can just call me Mika. You're not in the Alliance. Yet." With a wink, she left me to check out my new room.

There was a bed, desk, nightstand, and built in wardrobe with a mirror on its door. The colours were all neutrals, except for the floral bedspread. The far wall had a curtained window that looked out onto the street below. I sat down on the bed, feeling its softness with my hands.

I was about to lie down and rest when I heard something clatter downstairs. I got up and headed out of the room to find out what happened.

"Mika what were you thinking? She isn't some abandoned dog you can bring home! Kids cost a lot of money!"

That was Patricia's voice, and she didn't sound too happy. I flattened myself against wall next to the staircase, listening intently and trying to stay silent.

"Trish I know what I'm doing. This girl lost everything last week. She needs me. I'm giving her what uncle Paul gave us, a chance at a life. Something she wouldn't get if she was left in one of those greedy community homes on Earth."

"And what about when you're away, huh? Who's going to take care of her then?"

"You are Trish, because it's the right thing to do. If I hadn't looked out for you in that community home you wouldn't be where you are today, so it's time to repay the favour. And Jane is not a child, she's sixteen."

"This is ridiculous! I will _not_ be forced to take care of another one of your... projects!"

As Patricia shouted, I snuck down the stairs and out of the apartment. Then I bolted for the elevator, dialling in ground floor. It wasn't long before it arrived and I was running across the foyer to the entrance.

Finally I was outside. I inhaled a deep breath, Scanning the street in front of me as I took a seat on the curb of a planter box. There were kids kicking around a ball in the street, shouting and carrying on. I stared as one of them somehow picked up the ball without using his hands or feet. The ball sparked with a blue energy, before speeding toward the makeshift goal. The kid and his teammates- they all wore caps- cheered. Another kid, with no hat, fetched the ball.

"There you are." I looked behind me; Mika was approaching my seat.

"Sorry," I murmured, going back to watching the game. "I just needed to get some air."

Mika came over and sat beside me, saying, "Trish will come around."

"She doesn't like me," I whispered.

"She doesn't like _change_. And a third person living and depending on us is a pretty big change for her. But it'll be alright. I've got a few weeks of leave, so we have time to get used to each other."

I silently watched as the kid seemed to stop the ball mid-flight, again without touching it. "How is he doing that?" I asked with awe.

"He's a biotic, they can create mass effect fields with their minds and bodies. There's quite a few biotic kids here on Arcturus, but most go to the Biotic Acclimation and Training Program on Jump Zero. Apparently, every asari is a biotic."

"Wow," I replied. "I couldn't imagine trying to move things with my mind."

"Anyway," Mika slapped her legs and stood. "I was going to go fetch some takeout from down the street. Wanna come along?"

Dinner was from a traditional Chinese restaurant, a cuisine I had never tasted before in my life. Mika lost it laughing when I had to dive for a drink after eating something called ' _Ma Yi Shang Shu_ '. Even Patricia couldn't remain angry at that point; it seemed I had finally broken the ice with her. She got me a glass of milk, telling me that Mika had pulled the same prank on her years before.

That night I went to sleep feeling okay for the first time since the raiders had landed on Mindoir, and no nightmares haunted my dreams.


End file.
